


The Maze

by yeysal



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Body Shaming, Bullying, Cibophobia, Food mention, Gore, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Suicide mention, Violence, god!Bill, maze
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-11 16:06:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5632672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeysal/pseuds/yeysal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At twelve years old, Dipper finds a mysterious journal near his great-uncle's shack in the woods and for fourteen years, he dreamed of being able to uncover the secrets that made up "the maze" which was supposed to be the ultimate test to one's mental abilities. </p><p>Fourteen years and many emotional rollercoasters later, his hard work and dedication pay off when he wakes up in Cipher's Mind Maze...</p><p>But the demon-god has big ambitions, and if Dipper makes it out alive, he'll get much more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - The Middle

**Author's Note:**

> This work is greatly inspired by Sinna's God!Bill which can be found here:  
> http://sinnabar.tumblr.com/post/134293449006/the-line-between-a-demon-and-a-god-is-such-a#notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE 3/24/2017:   
> Alright! It’s officially happening. 
> 
> The Maze is getting a major reboot and this time, it’s going to be bigger, better, and more...something else that’s positive, idk. 
> 
> It’s going to follow the same plot as the former fic, HOWEVER, major details have been changed and, overall, I feel I have a better grasp at the plot and characters.
> 
> This is why I usually don’t post chapters as I go BUT we live and learn. 
> 
> I sincerely hope you all enjoy this version of the story more than the original. 
> 
> I can’t promise regular updates like last time but if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Stanford Pines had always been fascinated with the strange and unusual. As a child, and well even into adulthood, he was relentlessly teased for his extra fingers on his hands. As a consequence, Ford found a special kin to that which he felt he belonged, regardless of how isolated it made him. 

So, he immersed himself in all things strange. It started as a simple hobby; shoving oddly shaped candies in his pockets and preserving puzzle pieces that didn’t quite fit the finished picture. By his early teens he was so well-versed in the anomalies of the world that he shamed theorists on live television. Coupled with his vast intellect and talent for invention, he quickly became much more than the six-fingered child of the stone-faced salesman and the phony psychic. 

Despite the possibility of holding the cure to all diseases in the deep recesses of his mind, he longed to find the answers to that which couldn’t be explained. He found an odd comfort in the lonely corner of anomalies and the long-to-be forgotten freaks that once trail-blazed across the minds of humans. 

Ford, in an effort to understand  _ himself _ , sought to understand the origins of the strange and perhaps, uncover the mystery of the universe in and of itself. 

He knew it would take time, but he developed his theory that there were places on Earth that specifically attracted these strange phenomena with some being more powerful than others. He established that he would find and explain these anomalies with science such as no other scientist would do ever.

He was mostly laughed at. It didn’t help him that “theories” like the Bermuda Triangle, which was easily disputed with science, and even America’s Bermuda Triangle, which was constantly shut down by anti-conspirators, spoiled his theory to the point where it nearly ruined his reputation.

Ford wanted no part in those stories but he needed his own evidence. So he ventured on his own. He spent an agonizing seven years attempting to locate evidence to support his theory by hunting down and exploring local myths and legends from all over the world. 

Ford was incredibly disappointed to encounter nothing but dead ends. 

It was on his last and, at the time, final hike with a group of archaeologists in the deserts of Egypt where he found a glimmer of hope to potentially keep him on his trail. 

It wasn’t much, just a small parchment he found in the sand near a tourist attraction. Ford initially thought it was just a piece of trash and gave it so little regard that he used it as a bookmark in his journal. He appreciated the symbols, two triangles with the points meeting to form the shape of an hourglass. One triangle contained fire while the other was slashed in the middle. There were a few lines running through them that reminded Ford of a maze.

It was well drawn at least. 

A few months later, Ford was on another hike a few miles north of Shanghai when he noticed eerily similar markings on the side of a random boulder on the trail of the forest. He took so many pictures that he ran out of film and his group chastised him for making something out of nothing. 

At this point, Ford was able to date and compare the two drawings. They were identical down to the small sketch marks, and, remarkably, even though they were both found miles and continents apart, Ford found that they both dated 10,000 years ago, and, interestingly enough, after Ford returned to the states, he learned that the towns in the vicinities of where he found the drawings were both home to some supernatural occurrences. 

Ford wasn’t sure what the correlation between the drawings and the anomalies was but now, he was determined to find out. He began researching anomalies and strange occurrences around the globe and oddly enough, discovered that a majority of reports stemmed from his own country. 

A small, off the road town in Oregon known as Gravity Falls. 

Ford presented what little evidence he had and presented his theory to the Board at his university. After much convincing and many sleepless nights, he was granted a small portion of money to fund his research into proving his theory. 

When he arrived in Gravity Falls, Ford was so enthralled in his work that he didn’t sleep for two weeks. He documented and studied gnomes, eye-ball bats, and, to his surprise, a UFO which he suspected could have crash-landed  _ because _ of how strange the area was. He quickly filled two journals with all of his findings, however, he found nothing that could explain where the source of these strange things was coming. 

So he decided to do something he feared: interviewing the townsfolk. 

Ford had never met a group of people so willfully ignorant of what was hiding in plain sight. Most of the townsfolk waved off Ford’s studies. Hell, even the mayor offered him an eagle of his choosing in exchange for leaving the town and abandoning his project. 

Ford, in an effort to maintain his sanity, decided to keep to himself and only go into town for the necessities. Still, the months dragged by and while Ford had become accustomed to the odd creatures that he discovered, he still wanted to get to the root of it.

One day, while he was on a hike through the woods, Ford stumbled upon a cave he had never noticed before. It was no surprise due to the cave being tucked closely to where the falls were. Curious and willing to investigate, he entered the cave and while it was mostly unremarkable, Ford was shell-shocked to find the exact same drawings he had found years prior across the ocean.

Only these were much more intricate and detailed. They even had inscriptions in an ancient language that dated back ten thousand years. Ford was at a loss at what to believe. Three drawings of the same symbol, found across several continents and oceans where strange anomalies exist, and all three dating to the same time period. 

Ford knew he had hit the jackpot.

After spending hours translating the inscription, Ford concluded that the symbols were tied to some kind of entity. Ford did some research and found that there was no trace of the deity in any religion or culture. It was a bit of a disappointment to Ford that he may have found nothing but a lost religion that coincidentally happened to be located near supernatural hot spots. 

However, when Ford returned to the cave, the drawings were gone as if they were never there. He returned to his small shack woods, where he stayed for an entire month before returning to town.

From the outside, it seemed like a regular old shack. However, after Ford’s month of absence, he returned with an enthusiastic energy like no one had ever seen. He was awake day and night working on something in his lab/home. 

The townsfolk, as ignorant as they were, were beginning to take notice. Every now and then, strange noises emitted from the shack and at one point, there was a small community gathering where a few people of the town suggested petitioning Stanford to leave the town after gravity seemed to  _ stop _ followed by a tremendous shaking from inside the forest.

Shortly after, Ford entered town looking like he had seen a ghost. He didn’t look anyone in the eye for too long and, at one point, looked at everyone as if they were going to kill him. He shut himself back into the shack and didn’t return to the town for a month leaving everyone in town on edge. People began spreading rumors about the madman who resided in the forests of Gravity Falls.

Then, one day, Ford appeared again. He looked slightly calmer if not despondent and some of the townspeople followed him out of curiosity. They watched as the mysterious man entered a local convenience store where what little customers were shopping took notice very quickly. The tension could be felt by just looking within the glass windows. 

Ford didn’t seem to notice that he was being watched as he picked up a loaf of bread and placed it on the counter. The older woman behind the register smiled sweetly and rang him up for fifty cents. 

Before the man could reach into his empty pockets, an energetic and heavily made up woman approached him from the side and asked, “Hey, aren’t you that fella who lives out in the woods?”

There were a few shocked and embarrassed gasps and the nervous man blinked, “Uh…”

Suddenly, a barrage of people surrounded him. They poked him questions, eager to see what he had been working on in the last six years of living in the woods. Soon they were shoving money in his face. Resolve broken and a glimmer in his eyes, the man conceded to a small tour of his shack.

Months later, The Mystery Shack was born and would become Gravity Falls’ most popular roadside attraction. 

Thirty years later, during one summer, a young boy found a discarded journal buried on the outskirts of the forest that surrounded the mystery shack his uncle operated. He spent the entire summer with his sister exploring the strange and unusual things he had only read about in storybooks. 

  
He was particularly inspired by an entry detailing a maze-like test that could only be summoned once and, according to the author of the journal, would test the trier to their fullest mental ability or break them just as fast. Unfortunately, bits of the inscription were missing and it would take Dipper sixteen years to discover what the mysterious author left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot promise regular updates but I will do my best. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter One - The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summertime, year 2000. Dipper Pines, 12 years old, discovers his bleak-looking summer is his life's greatest adventure in a creepy disguise.

_ Summer, 2000 _

 

Summertime. The time when Dipper Pines normally drowned in science trivia books, played video games, and marathoned horror movies on Pay-Per-View. Endless adventures to behold. There was nothing he looked forward to with more fervor. The last day of school was certainly a welcome sight with the shine of clean desks, a pristine chalkboard, and a pile of spiral notebook agendas in the trash bin. Minus the venom-filled remarks from the class bullies, Dipper had a pretty great last day. 

Until he and Mabel returned home to their suitcases packed and waiting for them in the foyer of their apartment. 

A summer with a change of pace, a chance for some fresh air in the middle of woods, and...more than likely, a way to learn some responsibility: working with their great uncle in his little tourist shop, The Mystery Shack, in the small town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. 

Dipper...was not excited about this. He wasn’t expecting they’d be sent halfway up the coast to spend the summer with a relative they rarely _saw_ , much less talked to. The day they arrived, they were greeted by their frightening looking “Grunkle Stan,” who seemed well on his way to becoming a candidate for the “Scariest and Most Likely to End Up in Prison” segment of some cops show.  

It was no wonder he needed help with his business. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” Dipper hissed under his breath as he rubbed the pad of his thumb and forefinger together, searching for any remaining pieces of bark. He knew he should have worn gloves.“Ugh, this is pointless…” 

Currently, Dipper had been charged with the task of hanging up signs for the Mystery Shack on the hiking path and at the moment, the signs lay discarded at his feet while he squeezed the tips of his fingers for more splinters. He had been out here for an hour and still had ten signs left to post. After picking off the remaining pieces of the splinters in his fingertips, he rested his back against the bark of the pine tree and stared off into the distance.  

At the moment, this was shaping up to be the worst summer  _ ever _ .  

Of course, Mabel was more excited about it than he was and Dipper wished he had just _half_ of her excitement so that he could feel a little more optimistic. Mosquito bites, scraped knees, and sweating through most of his clothes before noon was starting wear his patience thin. Plus Mabel kept trying to connect his mosquito bites like they were some kind of puzzle. The first week wasn’t even over….  

No wifi, no computer, Dipper was impressed that their Grunkle Stan even owned a television, but he had no cable, only the local channels, which were weird in a way Dipper could hardly understand. To keep himself occupied, Dipper crafted a list of things he could keep himself busy with but the only task he and Mabel had any time for was “helping” Grunkle Stan run the Mystery Shack, which Dipper quickly surmised was the biggest scam museum in the world. 

In the rare times of respite, he and Mabel would explore the recreational part of the town and meet with the townsfolk. Though, honestly, Dipper could understand why his uncle’s business made money at all. The whole area, including the people of the town, was just downright  _ creepy _ . The eeriness seeped into the ground and came up through the root of the trees, traveled down the roads, and put a glint in the eyes of the citizens. 

It set Dipper on edge. There was an aura in the air like a monster waiting behind the closet door or under the bed. Weird things were always happening in the town, strange animals, disappearances, property damaged….yet Dipper was the only one who thought it odd.  

Either that or he was just paranoid. That was also a totally viable possibility. 

“Agh!” Dipper smacked his leg when he felt  _ another _ mosquito bite. The tenth one  _ today. _ His eye twitched and he let out a frustrated growl as he grabbed the signs. The faster he took care of his chore the faster he could get back to the shack and do something else that was most likely excruciatingly tiresome. He brushed off his knees and came to a stand, peering over his shoulder as a chill ran down his spine.

There was a rustling sound coming from the foliage beyond the path. Dipper felt like he was being watched by someone. Or  _ something. _ Two minutes later he was nine signs down and that eerie feeling stayed with him like a thorn stuck in his clothes. He readied the final sign, carefully positioning the nail before readying the hammer for the strike.

 

**_CLANG_ **

 

“Gah!” Dipper felt a tremor down his arm and he dropped the hammer, wrapping his hand around his wrist. He could his bones trembling from striking the surprisingly solid force of...whatever he hit. He flexed his wrist, forming a fist with his hand before looking back at the tree. “What…” He reached out and tapped at the surface with his fingertip. The soft clinking sound echoed quietly.

_‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’_ Dipper’s eyes widened and he grabbed the hammer and held it up to the trunk, tapping again, the sound hollow and echoing. “Is it...metal?” Dipper rounded to the other side of the tree and tapped there.   

Nothing. No sound, no clanking. It was plain bark. 

“Huh….,” Dipper moved back around to the other side of the tree and located the spot where the hollow sounds were coming from. “Hm…” he looked down at the hammer in his hand, “I wonder…” He tapped the hammer at various spots, searching for some kind of- “Whoa!” He jumped back when a small panel popped out of the bark. 

“What is this?” Dipper poked the panel until it opened completely, the screws squeaking from the rust. He gave it a moment, waiting for some kind of creature or forest animal to pop out. When nothing happened, he carefully peeked inside. 

It was a small cubby….and resting in the center was a book, undisturbed, with a blanket of dust surrounding it and cobwebs draping off of the corners. “Whoa, cool…” Dipper slowly reached in and pulled the book out, “How long has this been in here?” 

The wind began rustling through the trees. Dipper looked up to see storm clouds overhead and the temperature dropped quickly. It was going to rain soon. He eyed the small cubby and bit his lip, trying to decide whether he should leave the book where he found it or take it with him. 

Thunder echoed and a small drizzle began. Dipper took a deep breath, dropped the sign he was holding, and closed the panel. He tucked the book in his vest and quickly ran in the direction of the shack. 

 

\--------

 

“Yo, bro,” Mabel greeted as Dipper stumbled through the front door. She had an assortment of stickers slapped on her face. “Guess what I did today?” 

Dipper shook his head, water dripping from his bangs, “Sticker party?” 

“Wrong! I successfully sold a snow globe for $200 because….I’m…. _amazing._ ” She fluttered her hands around her face to mimic a butterfly.  

“It’s true,” Stan said from the register with mixed amusement as he counted the cash, “But the guy was a little inebriated so don’t get too ahead of yourself, kiddo.” 

“Uh, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel said, placing her hands on her hips defiantly, “How many snow globes did  _ you _ sell today?”

Stan shrugged, “Eh. Hey, Dipper, did you hang those signs or did you throw ‘em in the creek like the other guy did?”

Dipper blinked, “Wait, was that an option?” 

“Haha,” Stan chided, “Alright, you kids go scramble up some dinner while I finish closing the register. Dipper, go dry yourself off first. I don’t want to pay Soos another hour for cleaning up after you.” 

Before Dipper could retort, Mabel grabbed his arm and dragged him into the messy kitchen, “Oh! Dipper we’re gonna make the rainbow mac’n’cheese!”

Dipper gulped, “Ugh, I think I’ll just stick with the stale cereal.”

Mabel pouted, “Aw, come on, Dipper, you used to love the rainbow mac…” 

“Not anymore, Mabel.” Dipper’s brow twitched as he rubbed the back of his neck, memories of being taunted in the school cafeteria were still fresh in his mind. He reached for the cleanest bowl from the counter and inspected it. “Don’t you think we’re getting too old for that stuff?”

“Uh, no,” Mabel eyed him warily before she conceded, “It’s our traditional summer dinner! Come on...you can at least have a bite.”

Dipper set the bowl down on the table and was preparing to sit when he felt the corner of the book jab his ribs. “Uh, actually, you go ahead and eat without me. I’m not that hungry anyway.” Dipper put the bowl back and ran past Mabel to the stairs. 

“Wha-but,” Mabel scowled, “Dipper! You haven’t eaten since breakfast!”

Dipper didn’t feel like eating right now. His heart raced with anticipation. He had just stumbled across a book  _ hidden in a tree _ . He  _ needed _ to know what was in it. 

He closed the door to the attic room and sighed, “We really need to clean up in here…” Their luggage was still half-packed with Dipper’s laundry discarded messily on the floor. “Eh...I’ll deal with it later…” He stepped over the messy pile and took the book out of his vest, sitting at the edge of the bed. 

He looked down at the book in his arms and wiped off the dust with his vest. There was a golden plate in the shape of a hand embedded on the front cover. The number “3” was written on the top, it’s ink slightly faded with age. Dipper could see his reflection in the light. He gulped, running his fingertips over the edges of the cover. “Alright, here we go…” he murmured as he opened the book and read the inscription inside, 

 

_ Vol. 3, ad astra per aspera. _

 

“What?” Dipper pondered aloud and flipped through the pages. He read the first page dated June 18th and his eyes widened.  

 

_ “It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began researching the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon.”  _

 

“No way…” Dipper flipped through the pages and skimmed each entry. Everything he suspected about the town had been correct, his hunches were completely on point….he had never felt so elated to have his paranoia validated, but the truth was also pretty terrifying.

He read for most of the evening, entranced by the knowledge of the mysterious author.

When Mabel came upstairs for bed, already dressed in her pajamas, Dipper was too excited to keep it a secret, “Mabel! You’re not going to believe this!” 

Mabel hummed sleepily, “Hm?”

“I found this journal hidden in the woods! Remember all those weird things I kept telling you about? The strange phenomena in the town? It’s all here in the journal!” He opened the book to the page with the Eye-Bats, “See?” 

Mabel squinted as she peered at the journal entry, “Are you sure that’s just not, I don’t know, some kind of novel or something?”

Dipper frowned, “What?” 

“Well, like, remember how in school they taught us about that guy who had a radio show about aliens invading and people actually thought it was real when really they were just reading a story? Like that…”  

“N-No...” Dipper said, disappointed at the prospect that it could even be true. He ran his hand over the front of the cover. There was no way it could be fake...not with the way the author described his findings. “This...this is real!”  

“Just show it to Grunkle Stan, I’m sure he can tell you whether he’s seen crazy stuff like Eye-Bats.” 

“No! Don’t tell him. This stays between us.” Grunkle Stan didn’t believe in anything except for money. Dipper was certain of that much, at least. Then, Dipper had a thought, “You know...we could probably find most of these things pretty easily! Then maybe Grunkle Stan will finally show some real mysteries in the shack!" 

Mabel sat up excitedly, “Hm...yeah, that sounds fun. You need all the muscle you can get. Plus, Grunkle Stan let me have a grappling hook as a reward for my amazing sale today!” She brandished her grappling hook from underneath her pillow, “This is going to be my best friend of the summer!”

“I still can’t believe I just found this in the middle of the woods….” Dipper murmured under his breath, “I wonder who wrote it…”

Mabel hummed and killed the lantern light on her side of the bed, leaving Dipper to stew in his thoughts. 

He had an entire summer to uncover the mysteries of Gravity Falls, and suddenly, this summer didn’t seem so bland after all. 

 

\---------

 

 

The twins spent nearly the entire summer hunting down the strange creatures documented in the author’s journal. Minus the occasional scraped knees and elbows, they managed to come out of each encounter unscathed. 

Until Dipper reached the last written pages of the journal. 

“This is spooky,” Dipper commented as they readied themselves for bed, “The entries just...stop.” Dipper flipped through the remaining pages, “Half the journal is blank.”

Mabel hummed as she played with the sock puppets she spent the whole day working on, “What’s the last entry about?”

“Some kind of cave,” Dipper responded quietly as he flipped back to the last entry, “It’s weird….most of the text is scratched out and I can’t make out the words.”

“Yeah, that’s not creepy at all.”

“I know, right? Listen to this,” Dipper cleared his throat, “‘My investigation to locate the source of Gravity Falls’ unique energy source might be paying off. I’ve discovered a discrete cave near the falls which has what appears to be ancient writings and a very familiar drawing from my prior studies.’”

Mabel tilted her head, “Prior studies?”

Dipper shrugged and continued to read, “‘It’s like these symbols are showing me the way. The drawings are dated a little over 10,000 years ago. Remarkable. This will be the find of the ages. There’s some text that’s written in an ancient language. I’ll have to work on a translation. Will report back with my findings.’ And that’s it...he wrote down the inscription...but he scratched out the rest of the text on the following pages.”

Mabel stared, “Well...what should we do? Find that cave?” 

Dipper’s face fell, “It’s near the falls. Grunkle Stan said we’re not allowed to go that far…"

“Well, it is our last week of summer…” Mabel smirked mischievously, “What he won’t know won’t hurt him?”

Dipper smiled, “Of course not.”

 

\---------

 

 

Sneaking past Stan was easier than Dipper thought it would be. Mabel’s plan was foolproof. 

“We just pack a bunch of stuff in these bags and tell him we’re going into town to help with Pioneer Day setup.” 

Dipper grabbed his backpack which felt like it weighed more than he did, “Mabel, what’s actually in these…?”

“Cheese boodles, Mabel-juice, salted caramels, you know, the essentials.” 

“Right.” 

Once they were in the forest, Dipper held up a drawing of the map that lead to the cave, “We just have to head in the direction of the falls. I think it’s this way… 

“Roger, Dipper.” Mabel responded while blowing raspberries in the sound of a song that synced with the sound of her globe keychain jingling with her steps. 

Dipper was an expert at ignoring Mabel’s filler noises. “Let’s see…” he pondered as he studied the doodle of the cave from the author’s entry, “It looks like it’s hidden behind a boulder…”

Mabel sighed as she looked up to the trees, “I wish this summer would last forever. You think we could see if the author found a way to stop time? I’m going to miss everyone when we leave.”

“Mabel, it can’t stay like this forever. Think of all the things we’ll be able to do. Trigonometry, staying up later….”

“Oh! We can order off the regular menu at restaurants!”

“Yeah….or-wait, do you hear that?” There was a loud sound echoing in the distance. “That sounds like the falls...we must be close, come on!” 

They picked up the pace until finally, they were at the edge of the falls near the cliffs. Dipper opened the journal and held up the pages showing the cave, the doodle matched the landscape completely. The cave was nestled between the cliff and a large set of pine trees. The sound of the water hitting the rockbed was deafening and Dipper had to shout in order to hear himself. 

“It’s here!” Mabel nodded and followed close behind.

The entrance of the cave was like staring into a dark abyss. Inky blackness stretched at an unfathomable distance. Now that they were finally here, Dipper’s confidence dwindled and the fear set in. The author disappeared, possibly in this cave. Dipper knew they had to be vigilant. They exchanged nervous looks before Mabel gave him an encouraging smile.

Dipper pulled out his flashlight while Mabel pulled out her grappling hook. 

“Okay,” Dipper breathed, “Let’s go…”

Their small footfalls echoed as they entered the cave. The sound of the falls grew quieter and quieter. There didn’t seem to be an end in sight. Dipper halted their movements, “Wait,” he said, his voice echoing down the dark path in front of them, “We should have checked to see how big this cave was…”

“ _ Does  _ it end?”

“It has to,” Dipper said as he looked at the pages, “Weird...it didn’t seem this big from the outside, right?”

Mabel shuddered, “Let’s hurry up, this place is giving me the creeps.”

They continued walking, Dipper kept his eyes peeled for the cave’s drawings. He thought they would have run into them by now.

_ Hissssssss. _

Dipper stopped and stretched his arms out, “Whoa! Mabel, wait….that sounds like a snake.” He moved his flashlight in every direction. The sound grew louder and louder, like a thousand snakes hissing at once. The sound surrounded them and they sank to the ground. 

Mabel gripped Dipper’s arm and buried her forehead on Dipper’s shoulder, “Dipper….” 

Dipper could hardly hear her over the sound. 

Then, it abruptly stopped and the cave was echoing with the sounds of their nervous breathing.

Mabel looked around and slowly stood up, “Huh….maybe it was just a bunch of cicadas?”

Dipper doubted it, but he had no other suggestions. “Come on,” he urged, “We have to keep going.”

“Dipper,” Mabel resisted, “Let’s go back...the sun’s going to go down soon…”

Dipper kept walking, “Not until we find the drawings.” Before Mabel could respond, Dipper could see the edge of a wall in front of him, “Look, there’s the end!” Dipper rushed over and angled his flashlight to the wall, frowning when all he saw was plain rock. No drawings, nothing. 

A chill ran down his spine that he shook off with his shoulders. He inspected the rocks closely, squinting as he felt a headache starting to form in the back of his skull. Dipper hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose as the ache quickly worked its way to his forehead. A ringing started in his ears. 

Mabel touched his shoulder, “This is the right cave, huh?”

“Huh?” Dipper opened his eyes as the ringing in his ears faded. He shook it off and looked back to the wall of rocks. “It...it has to be...this is the cave from the journal!” 

“Maybe the author got them mixed up?”

“No…” Dipper scaled the wall leading back towards the entrance, “Maybe we missed it. Come on, let’s head back. Keep your eyes open for anything weird.”

“Pfft, yeah, that’s not difficult,” Mabel said. 

During the walk back, Dipper noticed the cave looked...much different than when they originally came in. Certain rocks were pointed in the opposite direction and the path was slightly curved. When the coloring of the rocks changed, Dipper’s heart raced, “Mabel...I don’t think we’re going the right way.”

“What? That’s silly, we walked in a straight line.”

“Yeah, but look at these rocks,” he directed his flashlight to the walls, “They’re dry...the ones we saw on the way in were wet.”

Mabel blinked, “Maybe-” 

There was deep rumbling sound that silenced them both. Before they could question each other, the cave began to tremble. Terrified, Dipper grabbed Mabel’s hand and started running along the path. “It’s an earthquake! Come on! We gotta get outta here!” 

They ran and ran, Dipper dropped his flashlight, Mabel’s globe keychain was torn off her backpack. Dipper ran a little too close to the edge and scraped his leg against a boulder. Hope came when they spotted a sliver of light narrowing down their path. They ran faster. The cave was shaking like rattler’s tail. 

“We’re almost there!” Dipper screamed. Suddenly, his vision blacked out and he saw quick flashes of images in front of his eyes. 

 

_ Cave drawings. A blue light. A bar. College campus. Kids laughing. Dirty bathroom, a razor sitting at the edge of the sink. A hospital. The back of a stranger’s head. A bus. _

 

_ A stranger’s face. Yellow eyes and a wide toothy grin. _

 

_ A distorted voice, varying in frequency, was loud in his ears: _

 

**_EkaT RuOy...eFil NwOd eHt gnitsertni daor._ **

 

_ Dipper. _

 

**_EmOc kCAb ni nEetRuOf sraEY…._ **

 

_ Di….ason. _

 

**_Ew llIw evAh nUf nEhT..._ **

 

_ M….a…..so…..n…. _

 

“ **Dipper!** ” 

Dipper opened his eyes to see Mabel standing over him, her eyes filled with tears. He could tell that they were outside the cave roughly ten feet away from it. The sun was almost set and the sound of the falls was so loud that Dipper winced and covered his ears. “Mabel...what-” 

Mabel pulled him into a tight hug but didn’t say anything. 

Dipper’s hands were trembling like leaves. The earth was no longer shaking, and from the look of it, it didn’t seem like it affected the surrounding area too much. He pulled away from Mabel and sat up, rubbing his head, “Mabel, what happened?” 

Mabel shook her head and offered her hand, “I’ll tell you on the way back!” 

Dipper took her hand and stood up, looking back at the cave. He couldn’t remember running out, couldn’t even remember _ anything _ clearly. He started walking when Mabel prodded his shoulder. They had to make it back before dark or they would have to explain themselves. 

When they reached a quieter area, Dipper prodded Mabel again for answers. “Come on Mabel,” he pleaded, “What happened back there?”

Mabel adjusted her backpack on her shoulders, “We reached the edge of the cave and you were looking for those drawings. Then, you just fell…” 

Dipper stopped, “What...no…” Mabel turned to look at him. Dipper shook his head, “That’s not what happened. We were running out of the cave when the earthquake started.”

“Earthquake?” Mabel’s brow twitched and she squinted, “I had to  _ drag _ you out, Dipper…”

Dipper sucked in a breath through his nose, “No, no, we were on our way out and the ground started shaking, and then-”

“Dipper,” Mabel emphasized, glaring a rare glare, “You fell down and you wouldn’t wake up. I had to drag you out of there, I thought you were…” Mabel trailed off and fought back a wave of tears, “Don’t tell  _ me _ what happened when you weren’t even conscious!” 

Dipper blinked, “That can’t be right...I don’t remember-”

“Because you were unconscious!” Mabel argued. A heavy silence followed before Mabel groaned, “Ugh, come on, let’s go before Stan-”

“Where’s my flashlight?” Dipper asked as he patted pants pocket and vest, “Where is it? I know I had it…”

Mabel shrugged, “It probably fell out of your pocket while I was dragging you out of the cave, let’s go.” Mabel turned around and kept walking. 

Dipper followed, keeping his eyes on her backpack. Then he noticed something. A small chain swinging from the zipper, minus the globe and jingles. “Mabel, where’s your keychain?”

“What?”

“Your globe keychain? What happened to it?”

“Oh. I lost it a few days ago when we were being chased by the gnomes.” 

“No, it was there earlier,” Dipper retorted, “I saw it while we were in the forest...”

“Dipper…” Mabel breathed tiredly, “Just... _ stop _ …” 

Dipper fumed the entire walk back to the shack. How could he lose that much time? He definitely remembered the earth shaking, losing his flashlight, and Mabel’s keychain falling to the ground. He remembered scraping his-Dipper’s eyes widened and he stopped to check his leg.

Not a single scrape. 

His heart raced. Was he losing his mind? Did he hit his head  _ that _ hard? Dipper looked back in the direction of the cave. The hissing sound still echoed in his ears.

Stan was sitting on the couch on the porch and he lifted his soda in greeting, “Hey, kiddos, I see that stupid Pioneer Day nonsense treated you well.” He said it so emptily it was as if he didn’t believe their silly lie. “You two should wash up and eat. Leftover breakfast for dinner from yesterday all heated up.”

Dipper’s stomach lurched at the mention of the leftover breakfast, “Thanks, Grunkle Stan…” 

Mabel walked right past Stan and into the shack. Stan was quick to notice her dismissive and silent behavior. He looked at Dipper and gestured his head towards the door, “Everything alright with your sister? Looks like someone gave her a hard time.”

Dipper shrugged, “She’ll be fine. She’s just upset that we’re leaving next week. I’ll go make sure she’s okay. Did you feel that earthquake earlier?” 

“Earthquake? What earthquake?”

“You didn’t-uh, nevermind, I’m gonna go check on Mabel…” Dipper ran into the shack, heading straight for the attic. So there was no earthquake at all...maybe he was losing his mind.  When he opened the door to their bedroom, Mabel had already changed into her pajamas and was going through her suitcase, packing her clothes. “Mabel…”

“Hm?” For the first time in twelve years, her expression was unreadable.

“About today...I just...I don’t know,” Dipper tried to make sense of it but he  _ couldn’t _ , “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay, Dipper,” Mabel reassured, an air of softness in her voice, “I’m just worried that you might have hit your head a little  _ too _ hard…”

Dipper felt the back of his head. “There’s not even a bump…” 

“You fell pretty hard. It scared me.” 

None of this made any sense. “I don’t understand…”

“We should have never gone in that stupid cave.”

“What do you mean?”

“You got hurt, Dipper!”

“Mabel, I’ve been getting hurt all summer! What made this so different?!”

Mabel shook her head, “It felt dangerous. It  _ was _ dangerous. We’re not going back there.” 

“Go back to the cave?” Dipper shook his head, “No, Mabel, I have to find these drawings, I have to know why the author went missing!”

Mabel glared, “You go back there, and I’m telling Grunkle Stan right now. I’m serious.” 

Dipper looked away and dug his heel into the floor, “I…” he looked back at the journal, “Mabel I spent all summer on this…”

“It’s like you said earlier, Dipper,” she said heavily as she crawled into the bed, “We have to grow up.”

Dipper looked up at his bulletin board with all of his notes and theories on the identity of the author. He pulled the journal out of his vest and flipped through the pages. He had made his own notes in blue ink, marking down his questions for later. 

When he reached the pages regarding the cave, he frowned. Something about those pages, the content, beckoned him like a magnet. He knew the drawings had to be there, but he was too tired to rattle his brain for an explanation. They would be leaving Gravity Falls soon...and he knew there was no way for him to return to the cave to get the answers he wanted.

Dejected, Dipper killed the light and attempted to go to sleep.  Vivid dreams and nightmares kept him awake most of the night, and he had a feeling the same thing was keeping Mabel awake as well. He saw the cave in his dreams and that strange voice he heard from earlier was loud in his ears. 

**_neeTrUoF sRaEy..._ **

 

 

\-----------

 

 

The summer came to an end. Dipper was never able to go back to that cave, but it was with him every day. He had gotten a taste of a real adventure, and now, he wanted more of it. 

Waiting at the bus stop, Dipper clutched the journal in his arms as he looked back to the forest. 

He could _ feel  _ it calling out to him, the singing sounds of the last day of summer and a mystery unsolved. During the bus ride back to Piedmont, Dipper re-read the author’s journal again. The memories warmed his heart and flamed his ambition of learning more of the hidden secrets of the world. 

Yet, once again when he reached the ominous last written pages, with the author’s scratched out writings and vague warnings, he found himself looking back.  Staring at the old and rusty ceiling of the bus with recirculated stale air filling his nostrils, Dipper made a promise to return and solve the great mystery of the author.

 

 

**_neeTrUoF sRaEy..._ **


	3. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper returns to Gravity Falls fourteen years later...

_ Fourteen years later _

_ Gravity Falls, Oregon _

 

Dipper could vividly, and now fondly, recall his first bus ride to Gravity Falls. For a twelve-year old in the new millennia, it was a gruelling and boring drive, and it felt even longer given his initial pessimism for the new and limited resource of surroundings he’d be living in. Plus, the entire bus was cold enough to hang meat in it without it spoiling. 

Fourteen years later, fewer things remained the same. The bus was much smaller than Dipper remembered and he had his smartphone to keep his mind occupied and diverted. The people were also much different, not that he paid much attention to them before. Currently, there was a crying woman sitting in the seat across from him on the right side of the bus, her gaze fixed onto a piece of paper she was holding in her lap. Out of curiosity, Dipper stretched his neck out to see that the paper was actually a polaroid picture of an anthropomorphic cat.

Dipper, disturbed and befuddled, spent the rest of the ride trying not to look to his right. 

Earlier into the trip, the bus had stopped somewhere in Northern California and a few people disembarked while others boarded. An older man, probably in his late forty’s, boarded with a younger woman and, to Dipper’s displeasure, chose the seats behind him. Dipper could tell from the energy they gave off that they were in love to a disgusting degree. He nearly left his seat to find another when the man whispered something about love being “heart palpitations” and that he felt them as soon as he saw her in the bus station. 

Dipper squirmed in his seat and resisted the urge to inform the man that if he really felt heart palpitations, he should have gone to the hospital, but he didn’t want to be responsible for ruining the tender moment. The thought of someone being that in love with another person, Dipper couldn’t fathom it, couldn’t even imagine ever feeling that way about someone. 

Then, he felt a pang in his chest...a feeling of disappointment or sorrow. It was like a faded memory he couldn’t piece together or the realization that finding love in another person was a path not meant for him. The feeling lingered longer than an hour and every time Dipper remembered the love birds sitting behind him, his chest would pang again. Annoyed, Dipper flipped his hoodie over his head and snuggled into his seat to sleep until the next rest stop.  

As always, he didn’t dream. Ever since that day in the cave fourteen years ago, Dipper’s sleep was disappointingly boring. He had grown accustomed to it despite barely noticing it for the first few years. Every wake-up was similar to being memory wiped. He couldn’t recall anything even if he did dream. 

When the bus finally stopped in Gravity Falls, Dipper let out a relieved sigh and grabbed his things. His phone had buzzed in his pocket so much that it had died and he wasn’t looking forward to the mess of messages that were most likely waiting for him once it was fully charged. The sun was nearly set and he knew he needed to get through the town quickly if he wanted to reach the Mystery Shack before dark.

The town was just as he remembered, completely untouched by time. The people of course were older, there were more children, and there were a few more businesses lining the block (save for the one with the spooky doorway in the middle). Dipper  _ still _ couldn’t muster the courage to check that door out. 

When Dipper approached the Mystery Shack, he found his Grunkle Stan waiting for him on the porch. The old man was sitting on the couch with a newspaper in his hands. He still looked the same despite the years that continued to add more lines to his aged face and if Dipper didn’t know any better, he would have sworn Stan still hit the punching bag once in awhile. His arms still had a faint hint of fresh muscle. 

Dipper hesitated at the bottom of the steps, silently acknowledging his great uncle with apprehension. The last twenty-four hours weren’t exactly filled with welcoming conversation about Dipper’s little trip up to the Northwest. Even as he approached, Stan barely looked up from the paper until he had finished reading.  Stan’s lips were stretched into a thin line and if it weren’t for the glint in his eyes, Dipper could have mistaken his grumpy look as his resting expression.

However, this was not the case. Stan cleared his throat loudly and set the paper aside, “Well,” he croaked out with an edgy threat, “I think you know how this is going to go.”

Dipper took a step back and stared at Stan firmly in the eye, “Nice to see you, too.”

“Don’t get cute with me,” Stan warned, “I’m doin’  _ you _ a favor here, the least you could be is respectful.”

The truth in that statement shut Dipper up except to mutter, “Sorry…”

Stan grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I should have expected you to pull something like this. Leaving a good job, coming up here, and for what? Chasing your silly paranormal adventures? Give me a break…”

Dipper’s grip tightened on his bag handle and he seethed, “I don’t-”

Stan interrupted him with a firm point of his index finger, “Before you start, we’re gonna lay down some ground rules.” Stan stood from the couch slowly, holding his back with a grunt as he shuffled towards the door, “Come on, get your things in before the bugs swarm inside.”

Dipper followed Stan up the steps and into the shack, which, just like the town, was unchanged. Everything was kept as it was and Dipper felt a little tug in his heart as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. It even smelled the same. The gift shop was so much smaller. Dipper had gotten so tall that he was amazed to see that shelf he could never reach. Now, it was right in his line of sight. The room was so quiet and Dipper noticed the rug with the one-eyed pyramid was still in good shape. 

Though, oddly enough, he didn’t remember the eye of the pyramid being centered. He recalled as a kid always following the direction of the eye to the vending machine...because it always looked up. It was a long time ago...he chalked up to poor recollection. He considered asking Stan about it before the lights cut on, flickering a bit before they stabilized, and Dipper turned to face the register counter. 

Stan walked behind the counter and blew some dust off the register, “Now that it’s summer, the shack’s been picking up big business again. Soos is taking some college courses in Portland so you’re gonna be working here every day, seven ‘til seven. You’ll be greeting tourists, offering guides, and selling merch in the gift shop.”

Dipper balked, “That’s...that’s not why I came up here, Grunkle Stan.”

“I really don’t care,” Stan panned, “In the last twenty-four hours, Mabel and your parents have called at least fifty times making sure you got here alright. I haven’t slept since Tuesday!”

Dipper dropped his bag on the floor and grumbled, “Stan….I have an entire notebook full of things I need to study while I’m here. If I’m working that much, this will all have been for nothing!”

Stan growled under his breath but his expression softened just a bit, “You can have Mondays off and a half day on Thursday but don’t push your luck!”

Dipper was about to argue but his past experience with haggling with Stan made him reconsider. It wasn’t a bad deal...mostly. “Fine,” Dipper conceded, picking up his bag and heading towards the door leading to the living room, “Let me go call Mabel…” 

“Dipper, w-wait...” Stan called back. 

Dipper paused in the doorway and hung back a bit, perplexed by Stan’s soft expression. 

Stan opened his mouth to say something, his jaw twitched as he regarded Dipper with an unreadable expression. Then he shook his head, “Nevermind, get settled in. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Dipper nodded and continued towards the staircase leading up to the attic. The steps creaked under his weight, another change he noticed in the years he spent away. Returning to a place that left a large impression on his childhood felt so strange to experience after so long. It was disappointing, but it also felt comforting. It just...wasn’t the same anymore.

Yet, the magic wasn’t quite gone. On the ride up, Dipper felt the energy in the air change the closer they approached Gravity Falls. He stepped off the bus and that aura greeted him like a long lost friend. 

When he opened the door to the attic, the small size of the room was apparent. The beds were still made, and the triangular-shaped window still cast that eerie light on the floor as the sun set. The painting of the ship at sea was still hanging on the wall next to the bed. Dipper set his backpack on his bed and fished out his notebook and the author’s journal. He couldn’t help but smile and with a deep breath, he opened the journal and read over the old entries that started his fascination with Gravity Falls. 

He read all night whilst drafting his plan on how to locate the cave drawings. His phone remained in his backpack, still dead with a plethora of messages that he neglected to address. 

 

\----------- 

 

The next morning, Dipper, having slept a total of twenty minutes, was preparing to start his day searching for the cave drawings. He remembered exactly where it was and this time, he’d find those drawings. He was hoping he could sneak out before Stan noticed he was gone. He just needed to charge his….phone.

“Oh no…” Dipper’s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed his bag, his phone clunking to the wood floor. His heart raced, fear had never felt so real. He fished for his charger and plugged it in, the screen lighting up. The phone buzzed twice and Dipper sat patiently as he waited for it to get some juice before he would head out.

In the meantime, he assembled his backpack with necessities. Unlike the last time, he had everything he would need and it wouldn’t slow him down. If anything were to occur in the cave, he would be able to run without the weight of whatever Mabel had packed their bags with. His phone buzzed and Dipper grabbed it to check the notifications. When the screen loaded, his heart fell into his stomach.

One hundred notifications, of various types, were displayed on his lock screen. Dipper unlocked his phone and gulped at the extent of the damage. He had about eighty messages from Mabel alone, and the other twenty were a mixture of emails from his former coworkers and his parents. 

Dipper didn’t even bother reading them. He opened up a new conversation to include Mabel and his parents, typing a quick, “I made it to Grunkle Stan’s. Gonna work in the shack for the summer. I’ll call tonight.” He hit ‘send’ before he could give it more thought and then immediately set his phone to “Do Not Disturb.” The last thing he needed was a distraction.

With that boulder mostly off his chest, he made sure his phone had enough storage for any photos he would take and slid it into his pants pocket. He could still hear Stan snoring away downstairs and he realized he needed to get gone a.s.a.p if he wanted to avoid the first half of his shift in the gift shop. 

Sneaking down the stairs was easier than he thought despite the creaking of the old wood under his feet. He thought for sure that Stan would wake up but the man slept like a rock in his old age. Once Dipper was outside, the smell of pine and crisp mountain air was like freedom to his senses. 

The forest was inviting but Dipper knew what was beyond the firs and pines, and it was the most enticing part of this small town. It was still cool and the humid air created a hazy mist near the treeline. The trail he and Mabel took to reach the falls never left his mind and he set out with great excitement. 

He was nervous, too. While his ambition towards locating the drawings overrode his fear, he wasn’t completely unprepared for the worst. Since he didn’t have a partner, he knew the likelihood of going a long time without assistance if something were to happen was greater. He left a note for Stan just in case. 

He could hear the sound of the falls in the distance. Like last time, his heart began racing. He wasn’t dismissive of the lack of sounds from the wildlife. Something was definitely peculiar about this part of the forest and it was something he was determined to uncover. When he finally approached the cave, he stopped in his tracks. 

It was completely unchanged, only now, it didn’t seem as big. Growing up had its advantages. Dipper dropped his backpack and knelt on the ground, the moist forest floor soaked through his jeans at the knee. He fished out an old, tattered rope along with his flashlight, his Go-Pro camera, a peg for the rope, his EMF detector, and his cellphone. A chill ran down his spine as he threw the rope out to gauge the length. If it was too short, he’d have to go into town to buy a longer one.

Once he pegged the rope into the ground near the entrance of the cave, testing it for stability, he took a deep breath and looked behind him. The entrance of the cave was a black abyss. The air was still, and if he listened closely, he could still hear the hissing sounds. With time running short, Dipper fastened the Go-Pro to his backpack and switched it on. Then, he adjusted his flashlight to fit to his cellphone, made sure it was functional.

He quickly flipped through the various notifications on his phone to get to the video app and began recording. With the front-facing camera, he stared into the lens and spoke, “This is Dipper Pines. Today, I’m going to investigate the cave just near the outskirts of Gravity Falls, Oregon. When I was twelve years old, my-” he cleared his throat as a cough welled in his chest, “Uh, my sister and I had a rather strange experience in this cave. I’ve read some interesting theories on what may be causing these anomalies and now, fourteen years later I’m finally going to investigate.

“This is day one of my search, I have my Go-Pro activated to monitor any movement behind me, my EMF detector to detect any unusual occurrences in the electromagnetic field, a rope to make sure I don’t lose my way, and I’ll be recording with my phone. Current time is quarter past six. This will either be very boring or very exciting.”

Dipper switched the camera and stood up, sliding it into his shirt pocket before adjusting his backpack and his EMF detector on his waist. Once he double-checked to make sure his devices were working, he fastened the end of the rope to his belt buckle and took the first step inside the cave. 

Dipper could tell that it had rained the past few days. The smell of water was everywhere. With his handheld flashlight pointed to the ground, he used the flashlight on his camera to view everything at eye-level. A few minutes in, and it was relatively normal.

“Last time I was here,” Dipper narrated quietly, his voice echoing slightly, “My sister and I couldn’t find the drawings on the wall that were allegedly said to have been found in this cave. We may have gotten lost or turned around but I don’t see any alternate paths that we could have taken.” To showcase his point, he turned to his left and right, showing only a wall of rock on each side. “As you can see, the path I’m currently walking is the only path-”

A loud hissing sound made him freeze in his tracks and his heart raced. Once it subsided, he caught his breath and cleared his throat, “We-we heard that same sound at this same spot. I don’t know what it is.” He continued walking, “It may be a snake, or bugs. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem harmf-gah!” Dipper began to fall forward as the ground gave way beneath him. He quickly used the momentum to throw himself back a few feet and landed against the wall. He managed to not drop his phone in the process.

“I don’t know what just happened…” he said shakily while blindly searching for solid rock to hold onto. The view of rocks falling into a dark precipice made his heart race. “It looks...like there’s an underground to this cave…” 

He edged closer to the gaping hole on the ground, careful not to put anymore weight on it. He shook his head, “This doesn’t make any sense…” he said mostly to himself. He grabbed his phone from his pocket, “There’s no way there could actually be an underground cavern in this area.” Dipper angled his flashlight and phone into the hole and his EMF detector sounded off automatically. 

Dipper pulled his phone out and decided to review the footage on it later. Once he took a few steps back, his EMF detector quieted to a few beeps. He let out a frustrated groan, “I can’t go any farther. It’s too risky. I’ll have to figure out how to get ahead without falling into whatever this is.” 

Dipper turned around and shook the rope, pleased to see there was still a decent amount of slack.  Before he could start the walk back, he noticed something unusual on the rock wall he had landed against. He turned his flashlight to it and noticed a black mark on the surface of rock. He pressed his hand to it, running his index finger along the edges. When he pulled his hand back, gray residue was stained to his finger. 

He backed up a bit to view the rest of the wall. He took a screenshot for good measure. Then, he turned to face the other wall. It wasn’t nearly as gray-colored as the other. Suspicious, Dipper ran his hand along the gray wall. More black marks were revealed and Dipper wiped the gray residue off his hand. 

“Is this...spray paint?” Dipper adjusted his jacket sleeve and began to wipe off what he could reach. “Are you kidding me…” He murmured, “It’s spray paint...someone painted over this…” It was harrowing but after a few minutes, he was able to make out a partial message on the rocks. He took another screenshot.

“This is why the color looked so strange from all those years ago,” he narrated almost breathlessly, “It was paint the whole time. I don’t think that this is the complete picture but this is the best I can do for now.” Dipper tried to hide his excitement for the sake of the video but on the inside, he was doing backflips and setting off fireworks. 

He took more screenshots to save for later. “Tomorrow I’ll come back with a rag and some paint thinner. Pressure washing would be too risky. I’m about seventy-feet into the cave. The underground cavern is still to be explored. The EMF detector went crazy when I got close to it. That’s another save-for-later. Heading out now.”

As Dipper headed back, he felt a validating relief in his chest along with the overwhelming excitement. For the first time, he finally felt that he was heading in the right direction to get some answers. All of his doubts, all of the negativity, amounted to nothing in this moment. He had found what he was looking for and now, he was going to continue to prove everyone wrong.

 

**_kCab emOclEW_ **

 

Dipper froze in his step as that loud hissing voice echoed behind him. The EMF detector began beeping incessantly. His mouth went dry and he could feel his hackles rise in fear. Whatever it was, he could feel it  _ directly _ behind him, and it felt sinister. 

He took a cautious step, his muscles so tense he could barely move. He could see the light near the entrance of the cave. He was almost there. 

 

**_gnihtEMoS tSOl uOy_ **

 

He was shaking now and partially worried that the EMF detector’s battery would wear out. He continued walking. He could see the forest and the end of the rope where it was pegged outside of the cave. His heart raced and he was hoping the extra footsteps he was hearing was just part of his imagination. He quickened his pace and as soon as he was out, he could feel the air shift to something less threatening. 

The birds were chirping happily, the sound of the falls echoed loudly in the background, and Dipper felt like he had just run a marathon. 

With deep breaths, he silently wondered if he captured that on video. He quickly dug the peg out of the ground and moved away from the cave. “That was terrifying,” he whispered to himself as he turned off the video. He assembled his supplies in his backpack and realized he was probably late for work.

He checked his watch quickly and was surprised to see that it was only half an hour past six. There was no way he was only in the cave for five minutes. His watch must have stopped.... Dipper shook off the nervous feeling and began heading back to the shack and, luckily, he made it right before Stan woke up.

He tried not to think too much about the clock in the shack reading ten minutes to seven. What were the odds that two clocks were malfunctioning…? He quickly grabbed the note he had left for Stan and ran up the stairs. Once he was in the attic, he hooked up his phone and Go-Pro to his laptop. Then, Dipper changed into some clean clothes to avoid suspicion and headed down into the gift shop of the shack to ready the register. 

When Stan made it down, fresh-ish faced and in his suit and eye-patch, he grunted in Dipper’s direction, “Nice to see you’re up early to start the day.” 

“Good morning to you, too,” Dipper deadpanned, “How busy do you think this place will be on a Wednesday?”

“Do you honestly think I’d still be in business if I wasn’t busy?” Stan glared, “I’ve got my secrets that keep this place going.”

Dipper shook his head, “You give a cut to the rest stop owner five miles out of the town, don’t you?”

“Pfft! A cut?! Are you out of your mind?” Stan straightened his posture, “That bozo accepts free tours for his family twice a year in exchange for keeping fliers for the Mystery Shack instead of the other wacko roadside “attractions” in this area. Stupid Granny Sweetkins and her yarn ball. One day she’ll go out of business.” 

“She’s  _ still _ alive?” Dipper asked in awe.

“Please, that old hag is so terrible she’s going to outlive all of us.” 

“Wow…” 

“Anyway, it looks like the first bus just pulled in,” Stan commented as he checked his watch, “I’ll do the first three tours and you can finish off the day while I man the shop.”

Dipper nodded, “Sounds good.”

The day went by agonizingly slow. Dipper led four tours back-to-back on autopilot. By the time he and Stan closed up the shop, he could feel the ache in his muscles and his desire to not speak for the rest of the day.

“Good job today, kid,” Stan commented as he shrugged out of his suit jacket, “A long day of honest fleecing starts tomorrow.”

“Honest fleecing…” Dipper yawned and sat down at the dinner table with his soda. 

“There’s some leftover macaroni and cheese in the fridge, you know.”

“I’m not hungry.” 

Stan hummed and set his hat down on the tabletop, eyeing Dipper warily, “You’re not still having your food issues again, are you?”

Dipper’s brows creased, “What? No. I’m just not hungry.” 

Stan continued, “You know you’re not seven anymore.”

“I’m very aware that I’m not seven years old.” 

“What’s the last meal you ate today?”

Dipper groaned, “I had three slices of pizza about two hours ago.” He was getting tired of this conversation already. He had more important things to handle. “I’m going to call Mabel and then I’m going to bed.”

“Eh, alright. See ya in the morning, kid.”

“Night,” Dipper mumbled as he made his way to the attic. Once he was safe in the privacy of his room, he booted up his computer and was pleased to see that the footage he had taken was successfully uploaded. He pulled up the video from the Go-Pro camera, eager to see what he caught, and before he could press play, his phone began buzzing.

Mabel was calling, and Dipper had been avoiding her for days. With a sigh, he decided to face the music and picked up the phone, “Hey, Mabel.”

“Hey, Dip,” she greeted sweetly. There was an edge to her voice, like she wanted to be angry or upset with him but just couldn’t follow through. “How’s it going up there?”

“Pretty well,” he responded, “Worked the shop the whole day, not much else.”

Mabel chuckled, “Any monsters from old times jump out to see how much you’ve grown?”

“Surprisingly, no,” he said with a smile, “Although I did catch a glimpse of the gnomes during one of my tours.”

“Good to know things haven’t changed much.”

“Yeah…” Dipper bit the inside of his cheek and there was an awkward silence that hung between them. “So uh, how are things back home? How’s the apartment?”

“The apartment is  _ clean _ now, and it doesn’t smell like your dirty laundry,” Mabel chided, “Other than that, it’s pretty well put together. Pacifica offered me a position as a hairdresser in her boutique.” 

Dipper blinked, “Are you going to have time for that? I thought you were working on your sweater line.”

“Well,” Mabel bit out, that edge in her voice more obvious now, “I’m heavily considering her proposal in light of the circumstances.” 

Dipper sighed, “Mabel, don’t start. I’m onto something up here, I can feel it.”

“It’s just in case, Dipper,” Mabel responded defensively. 

“Mabel, I left you enough money to cover my portion of the rent for the next year.”

“It’s not about the money, Dipper,” Mabel responded with a sigh, “I’m just, you-, ugh, I’m worried and...getting out of the apartment will be a way for me to be...not so worried.”

Dipper gulped and allowed for a small silence. “I get it,” he said softly, “It’s gonna be okay, Mabel.”

Mabel sighed again, “I know, I guess.” She shuffled on her end of the line for a few seconds before edging a question carefully, “You went back to the cave already, didn’t you?”

Dipper felt a moment of panic. He wasn’t sure if he should be honest about it because he had no idea how Mabel would react. He was a terrible liar and he knew any answer other than the truth would be more than obvious. “Yeah...I did.”

“And?”

“You know...it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as when we were kids,” he lied. It came out easier than he thought it would.

“Dipper, please be careful. I had a dream last night that you were trapped in that cave…” 

Dipper’s heart fell to his stomach when he remembered how he almost fell into the underground of the cave. If he hadn’t been careful with his footing, there was a possibility Mabel’s dream would have come true. “It’ll be okay, Mabel.”

“Yeah, well, answer your phone and I won’t be so anxious.”

“I’ll try. You heading to bed?”

“I’m about to,” she said, “Gotta be up early to meet with Pacifica in the morning. This apartment is way too quiet.”

Dipper wasn’t falling for the guilt trip, “Okay, well, have fun and I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Night, Dip,” Mabel said softly, almost fearfully, “Be careful.”

“Night, Mabel.” Dipper moved the phone away and hit the ‘end call’ button on the screen. Ever since they returned from Gravity Falls, Mabel was particularly worried about Dipper. She had dreams of the cave long after their encounter and voiced her concerns about Dipper going back to Gravity Falls to explore it. Dipper couldn’t blame her, but he couldn’t let it go. So he just stopped talking about it. Mabel, however...

Dipper shook off the uneasy feeling of the conversation and went back to review his footage. The Go-Pro footage was the first he checked. The length of the video indicated its footage was roughly twelve minutes long, conflicting with the time of day on his watch. When he checked the timestamp, it was distorted. 

“Time paradox?” Dipper whispered under his breath as he continued to watch the footage. Compared to the things he had seen and read about in Gravity Falls, it wasn’t the  _ strangest _ thing he had seen. He opened up his tablet and transferred the footage from his phone, watching the videos side-by-side. While those played, he pulled up the image from his phone to view the drawings he had found.

They looked interesting enough. Dipper could make out two triangles in the shape of an hourglass. The image reminded him of the rug in the shack. Both had an eye drawn in the middle but with the way the drawings were disturbed by the spray paint and possible erosion, the eye of the lower triangle was scratched out. Beside the triangles were words scribbled in an ancient language that Dipper could barely read much less understand.

He was alerted to the hissing sound on the recording. Dipper didn’t even notice that the EMF detector had been beeping at that time. Granted, the sound was not going off as wildly as it would later on. Dipper set his phone down and looked at the Go-Pro footage. Beyond the corner of his backpack, the footage was pure darkness. 

Dipper grabbed his earbuds from his backpack and plugged them in. He hoped to pick up any quieter sounds from the background. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide anything new. So far, the only interesting note he had taken down was that the cave wasn’t affected by time whatsoever. 

He was startled by the sound of him falling through the hole that opened up under his feet. He watched intently once he put his phone into the cavern. The video feed immediately faltered and the sounds of the EMF detector going off were warped and slowed down. Dipper felt a chill run down his spine when he could almost make out a voice in the audio.

**_S….vo…..ol        kr…….m…….v        g…….ivv_ **

Then, the cave came back into view, with the EMF detector quieting as he took a few steps back.  _ “I can’t go any farther…” _

Dipper gulped as his heart started racing. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to watch anymore but he had already come this far. He glanced around his bedroom, feeling the stillness now more than he did earlier. He was now at the part where he located the spray paint. The Go-Pro footage was detecting some faint waves of movement but Dipper couldn’t tell if it was dust motes or something else. 

He was anxiously waiting to hear the distorted voice towards the end of the video. As Dipper began to walk out of the cave, he listened to the audio more intently. 

The hissing sound could be heard faintly and Dipper could hear his own breathing increase. The footsteps were absent, the voice gone, and the EMF detector was quiet. Then, Dipper rushed out of the cave, the sunlight blinding the screen for a short moment. The Go-Pro footage spun from when Dipper flung it off his shoulders and landed on the ground with the lens facing the entrance of the cave. Interestingly enough, the timestamp on the Go-Pro footage corrected to half an hour past six. Dipper sat back on his heels with disappointment.

He  _ knew _ he had heard something in there. This was just like what had happened with Mabel when she told him she had to drag him out of the cave. Was the cave warping memories as well? Dipper wrote down some notes and rewound the footage to the last few seconds in the cave. 

Sure enough, there was nothing unusual unlike what he remembered happening. Even the Go-Pro footage didn’t pick up anything-

**_gnihtEMoS tSOl uOy_ **

Dipper froze, partly from excitement and partly from fear. He rewound the footage, using his video program to playback the audio in reverse. 

_ You lost something…. _

“Huh?” Dipper played it again and again. The voice sounded...familiar...but he couldn’t peg where he had heard it. He played the video again and his heart stopped. 

Right when he ran out of the cave, before he threw his pack off of his shoulders, there was a figure in the sliver of light right behind him. It was fast, and Dipper could hardly catch it, but he paused it with the face right in the middle of the frame. It was unfocused and a bit dark, but Dipper zoomed in on the face of the whatever was behind him.

It was pale, short, and it’s eyes were a pearly white with no pupils to be seen. Dipper decided to play the video with the audio, hoping it would make sense. He kept in the zoom, hoping that with the playback, the face would become clearer. The distorted voice spoke and the face appeared slowly from the darkness, then retreated once Dipper was out of the cave. 

Dipper’s eyes widened when he recognized that face. “What the-?!” Dipper closed his computer, his heart racing so fast that he knew his chest would be sore. He was frozen in panic and despite his sweaty palms, he could feel an icy grip envelope him. It couldn’t have been...it was impossible.

Once he calmed himself down, he took a deep breath and opened his computer once more. The video paused on the creature from the cave. 

It was  _ him _ . Twelve-years old. Like he had never left that cave in fourteen years. Dipper felt nauseated. “No...this isn’t real...this  _ can’t _ be real…”

He played the video back but there was nothing. No voice, no creature. Just darkness. Dipper let out a frustrated groan and closed his computer again. He felt like he was losing his mind. 

“This can’t be possible…” he murmured quietly in the dark of his room. He glanced at the floor, the triangular light from the moon illuminating the space between the two beds. He felt like he could cry. He couldn’t tell if his mind was playing tricks on him or if there was something darker to the mystery of the cave drawings.

Suddenly, a fatigue like he never felt washed over him. He felt himself falling back to rest his head on his pillow. With the way he felt earlier, he had no idea he could so exhausted or even ready for sleep. His eyelids became heavy and once he closed them, it was as if they were glued shut. For the first time in days, Dipper actually slept.

And he  _ dreamed _ .

 

…………..

 

_ Dipper was in a white room with three black couches in front of him. From where he was standing, it appeared to be in the shape of a triangle.  _

 

_ What was more concerning was the occupant sitting on the couch furthest from him.  _

 

_ It was himself….only he was twelve-years old. He was staring at him with such an intensity that Dipper mentally told himself to wake up.  _

 

_ Then, the younger spoke.  _ “You lost something.”  _ Dipper could recall when he and Mabel were younger and they would speak to each other through oscillating fans. In this circumstance, the sound of the younger’s voice was not amusing, rather, it sent a chill that embedded into his bones. _

 

_ Something fell in front of Dipper and he looked down. It was a small, round object with a chain attached to it. Dipper bent down and picked it up. His heart stilled. _

 

_ It was Mabel’s globe keychain. The one she lost in the cave.  _

 

_ Dipper looked back up and was shocked to see two more people sitting on the couches across from his younger self. One was a pale, blond-haired man covered in tattoos from his neck to the visible parts of his body and he was dressed in black. The other was a dark-haired man in a button down shirt and black slacks with a bit of flare near the ankle. Both of their eyes were pale and reminded Dipper of frosted glass. Their brows narrowed slightly as if regarding him with harsh judgment. _

 

_ Then, the area seemed to pan away as if he were being moved. He could barely see the persons on the couches before the room went completely dark. _

 

…………..

 

Dipper woke up with a startling gasp. The room was alight from the morning sun. Dipper lay there, wondering if this was still part of the dream...he felt like he closed his eyes five minutes ago. 

“Dipper!” he could hear Stan shouting from downstairs, “Get down here or you’re gonna be late for the fleecing!”

Dipper blinked. He was definitely not dreaming. He rolled over to get out of the bed and was startled by the sound of something falling onto the floor. Whatever it was had rolled under the bed and Dipper swung his legs over to peek beneath it. He reached blindly, his hands finding purchase on the object and he froze.

“No way…” he murmured as he pulled the object out and held it in his palm. Mabel’s globe keychain was just as it appeared in his dream and Dipper momentarily forgot how to breathe. 


End file.
